Action by Rising Tide in Newcastle on August 5th, 2011 to highlight coal’s contribution to Somalia’s famine

Rising Tide Australia is a grassroots Newcastle group taking action against the causes of anthropogenic climate change and for equitable, just,effective, and sustainable solutions to the crisis. We are committed to the principles of Non-violent Direct Action. We are part of the global Rising Tide climate justice movement. We live in the biggest coal port in the cosmos.

In this action, the activists were calling for coal companies to donate some of their profits to the hundreds of thousands facing starvation due to the terrible climate change driven drought in East Africa.

“Coal is recognised globally as the biggest contributor to climate change. Yet, while climate disaster ravages East Africa, coal companies operating here in Australia are planning to massively expand their coal production, ignoring all the negative impacts.” Spokesperson Naomi Hogan

Climate change is affecting the poorest first. It’s easy for politicians to say “we don’t have enough evidence” speaking the lines that come from minerals councils and lobby groups. The West Australian State Liberals want us to wait for yet another report. A Royal Commission in fact. It is infuriating to people still using these stalling tactics. It is important that we stand with Rising Tide in their actions.

It is not just Australia that battles with the mega-rich resource multi-nationals. Here is a little idea from Canada to address an issue creatively – No Tankers Oil Poster

First stop was Capt. Merkin (Dave Sparks) and Pirate Studios. This time we had Mumma Jones (Mim Jones) recording four tracks with us including a live take of Little Crooked House.

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Check out our video tour diary from Billy Goat Bend in Mitchell River National Park, Victoria.

Second stop BADFolk (Berwick And District Folk Club) Video

Bikezilla!

Third stop Warrandyte Festival where we played to a lovely afternoon crowd lazing by the Yarra River. Highlights of the festival included the engine restoration society and Ducks in The Mud on Sunday.

Coming up next is Open Studio Show – 204 High St, Northcote Friday 25th March at 7pm with Lucy Wise and Ducks in The Mud for the small price of $10/5. And Hepburn Springs Folk Festival with The Woohoo Revue on Saturday 26th March.

After a brief two-hour stop over in Syderlee, The Lurkers continued the wonderful adventure south to Tathra and Pirate Studios with Dave Sparks. In 2010, guitarist Daniel Champagne suggested that we get in touch with Dave because of his great studio. We booked in for five nights and four days with Dave doing the audio engineering.

The attentive Mr Sparks

Working with Dave was a pleasure. His style is carefully attentive and not too gentle – he’ll always go for one more take it he thinks we can get the best take. Dave’s background is in punk and because of this his recording style gets a genuine sound that we are really happy with.

The way we’ve been recording is pretty straight musically where we set up a room mic plus mics on each of the three instruments and just go for it. Some songs take longer than others – there was a memorably epic 28 takes for one song. Normally one f the first few takes are the best.

After recording the backing music the lead vocalist will go and do their take.

After the main vocals are done, then the harmonies and any instruments to put over the top like mandolin or solos.

Occasionally, there are some sound effects to our tracks. The little touches make all the difference.

We didn’t want to waste Dave’s time so we’d practice after he’d gone off to bed. Our working day was nine till ten or eleven with breaks for lunch and dinner. Still by then end of the four days our ears were pretty worn out from concentration and our egos shattered from hearing our own selves back over and over again. Tempers were frayed by the end of each day because recording takes a specific musician – perfectionistic attention to detail. Not The Lurkers, but we work hard to get there.

As expensive, difficult and unrewarding it can be recording is unavoidable for a small independent artist. You’ve got to have something to take on the road and give people. Also, getting played on the radio is a massive help if you’re playing in towns you’ve never been. Community radio will often play your songs and promote your shows getting punters who might buy your cd.

In the end of the four days we had recorded eleven songs and mixed six. We’re going back in March with Mim Jones to help out on fiddle for a few tracks and to record a couple more. We’re aiming now to have the album out in June/July under the working title ‘Padlock and Chain’. Joel Tarling is doing design and art for the package and you can check out his art here.

Happy New Years! I know it’s late. But think of it as a fire-up for 2011! Here are my favourite bits of Peats Ridge Sustainable Arts and Music Festival 2010.

The Lurkers

Come to a far away place. Across Hawksbury River, over Peats Ridge and down the dusty road into Glenworth Valley

Meet the locals. They’re very friendly if a little eccentric.

Wandering entertainment

Enjoy the wildlife. Great for children of all ages.

Less wandering entertainment

And, in the Chai Temple was The Lurkers!

Desert Rat Shorty

Pretty Boy Floyd

With Desert Rat Shorty, Pretty Boy Floyd and Weary Hobo

Weary Hobo

Some in the crowd went wild, occasionally spilling frappéd Indian spiced tea onto woven cushions. However, most punters saved their frivolity for paddles in the refreshing creek preferring instead to appreciate the show by moving as little as possible unless to fan themselves.

Re-live the sweaty pleasures of this festival here and watch this video called 15Mb of Fame by Punk Monk Propaganda. 15Mb of FAME is a fast & furious crowd sourced initiative. All footage was shot by roaming punks meets festival goers and edited on site during the festival & screened in the Rejenr8 geodesic dome [Land of Hopeless Utopians] and on the main stage [the Bellbird], NYE. This is the original version as it was shot & cut on site in those preceding 48 hours of the festival then screened that very same night.

Waking up on New Years Day, The Lurkers continued the adventure down past Bega to Tathra to record our musical subversion at the eclectic Pirate Studios with Dave from Lime Spiders. To be continued…

Yours,

Weary H.

P.S. Many thanks to the talented Mark Snelson for letting us use his photos here

The Lurkers spent last weekend down at a friend’s beach shack to work on some new recordings. There’s still a long way to go before we have a new album, but we’re on the path – writing new songs, listening back and looking at how they might all fit together in a new album.

Our beach shack studio

We recorded 17 tracks – some that we’ve been playing at gigs for a while – like ‘Aint done Nothing’ and ‘Little Crooked House’, some that we wrote after getting back from Copenhagen like ‘Kitchen’, ‘Skinny Man’ and ‘Peabody Coal’. And some we’re working on some newies as well.

Playing on the verandah

We’re farming the recordings out to trusted ears to get feedback on how it all hangs together – at the moment I feel like the the balance is tipped too far towards slow songs and we need a few more hoedowns… Can’t start a revolution in absence of the hoedown! Though I’m voting to cut ‘Darlin you can’t love one’ from the mix – even though it’s fun it can get really annoying after a few plays.

We are seeking art from Sydney-based artists that can change people’s lives and help to create radical social change for a better future.

Expressions of interest are now open for an interactive, multidisciplinary exhibition upstairs at the Annandale Hotel as part of the Sydney Fringe Festival.

artRiot is looking for radical works: the exhibition is not targeted at working families and it’s not a feel-good campaign. It’s about meaningful art that is honest, uncompromising and dangerous in a way that dares audiences to believe in a radically different world. Any art form is fair game: music, fashion, sculpture, photography, fashion, crafting, graffiti, tattooing, painting, poetry or any other form of creative expression.

We know that art can change the world – from Peter Dombrovski’s pivotal photograph of the Franklin River to the music at the heart of the struggle against the apartheid in South Africa. We’re asking contemporary Sydney artists to show how their art is creating radical social change.

Round one expressions of interest close May 31st. The exhibition will run at the Tap Gallery in Darlinghurst from the 20th September to the 3rd October. Submit your ideas here: http://artriot.org.au/eoi/

About The Lurkers

Punk bluegrass ratbags The Lurkers released their first album "Shoot to the Moon" in 2009. They spend much of their time travelling the country in a biodiesel powered yellow van, playing at festivals, parties and protests. Their second album is due for release in 2011.